As of today, DMCA reform has a very real chance of passing the U.S. Congress. The biggest ray of hope for those of us who care about fair use came not from what happened at the hearing itself, but rather, at a lunch session that took place during a recess...

In cyber-literate circles, it's common knowledge that the DMCA has been a dismal legislative failure. For years now, every new DMCA lawsuit trumps the last for absurdity. And it sure hasn't made any perceptible dent on "digital piracy." As detailed in our "Unintended Consequences" report, it's been consumers, researchers...

Fordham law professor Sonia Katyal has an article up @ the SSRN Electronic Library that brings to mind a question I asked some months ago over @ Copyfight: Why do we tolerate in the name of copyright protection what we only unwillingly tolerate in the name of...

Congratulations and best of luck to our friends at the ACLU in their new lawsuit challenging the government's use of "National Security Letters" (NSLs). Authorized under the USA PATRIOT Act, NSLs are secret legal demands for your private records that are issued directly by the Justice Department...

Declan McCullagh rightly points out in his latest CNET piece on Gmail that EFF opposes California Senator Liz Figueroa's (D-Freemont) poorly conceived anti-Gmail bill (PDF) -- but not because we oppose any and all legislation to address the privacy concerns raised by new technology.A bill to target a...

CNET's Declan McCullagh this week picked apart the misguided Gmail bill (PDF) introduced before the California legislature by State Senator Liz Figueroa (D-Freemont). The upshot? The bill is so broadly written, it would do things like "make it illegal for a California technology company to offer a...

Just over a year ago, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) issued a policy statement condemning government-mandated technical protection measures for digital content.
"The imposition of technical mandates is not the best way to serve the long-term interests of record companies, technology companies, and consumers," read the...